Google search oddities

Archives

Meta

I’m looking for an excuse to stave off my evening run. Today is my sole day of doubles for the week. But I’ve managed to run outside for the last few days. This evening I need to take my 4.4 inside, after which we’re scheduled to get 4-8″ of snow. So the brief window of happy running outside has once again closed. On my fingers.

Since I ostensibly work in new media, I thought it was time to replace my 7-year-old piece of shit Palm device (the lowest end unit I could get at the time: the Zire) with something more up to date. Something that runs “apps.” I went for a 32G iPod Touch. Well, this thing is like crack! I can surf the web in the tub. I can go shopping with my list on something other than a post-it. I can sit in bed and play a game. I can listen to any episide of This American Life while cooking dinner. Whee!

Among the many apps I’ve downloaded and frittered money away on, two are relevant to runners: iPace and Race Pace. The second one covers the first’s functionality, but I didn’t realize that until later.

iPace ($0.99) is a simple conversion calculator. Plug in a distance and time and it will tell you the pace you need to run per mile and kilometer (and 400m for some reason). Or you can flip things around: plug in a distance and a per mile or per kilometer pace, and it will give you your finish time.

Race Pace ($1.99) is a little fancier. It’s basically a performance equivalent calc, much like the industry standard online version from Greg McMillan. Plug in a recent race time and you’ll get predictions for what that might translate into at various other race distances. You also get training paces for basic types of runs: tempos, long runs, easy runs and recovery runs. The paces are, for the most part, more aggressive (or optimistic; take your pick) than McMillan’s. But they offer a pretty good place to start when goal setting for your next race. You can also modify them to your liking in your iPod’s Settings area (something I only recently stumbled upon).

Speaking of paces, I’ve been tearing up the streets of Scarsdale the past few days, just as a nascent cold has started to take hold. I ran just shy of 10 miles yesterday in dreadful conditions (wind, sleet/hail/rain, slippery roads) at 8:21 pace at 80% effort. At lunchtime today I followed up with a recovery run at 9:27, or around a minute faster than those runs have been lately). I should get sick more often.

I guess bad marathons really are like childbirth: you forget the extreme pain and suffering after awhile and start yearning to pop another one out.

My marathon plans (or lack thereof) for the spring have not changed. In fact, now that the big spring races are around the corner and running bloggers are started to post things like “just eight weeks to Boston…” I find I’m relieved not to be among the worriers.

One decision we did make about the spring was to bag the idea of running the New Jersey Half again. I’m annoyed with this race. Not only have they jacked the fees up to the $100 range (for a half!), but they sin in other ways. Their web site looks like it was put together by a 12-year-old. They don’t respond to emails. Their explanation of how to defer an entry to next year is written like something off of Engrish Funny. And you can no longer park anywhere near the course. You have to go stand in a parking lot and wait for their buses (which were late last year). So, screw you, New Jersey. I’m entered for the full marathon this year, which I’ll defer until next year and decide then if I want to run the full or write it off as a loss.

Just for fun, I’m including this quote from the NJ site, in which they attempt to describe a change to the course:

Approximately 4.3 miles of the southern end of the 2009 course, in Elberon, will not exist in 2010. It has been replaced by approximately 4.3 mile in Oceanport.

Sorry, I’m a writer and editor. This sort of thing makes me crazy. When you say something “will not exist in 2010,” it reads as if the race director has metaphysical powers and has transported entire neighborhoods into a yawning cosmic void. Probably the same one into which my deferral request will be cast.

Instead, we’re going to give the Providence, RI half marathon a spin. It’s the same weekend, but it’s in Providence! I haven’t been there since sometime in the mid-1980s. I remember it was a cute city and I had a great breakfast at the Newport Creamery (it’s still there!). Affordable hotels abound just blocks from the start/finish and it’s close enough that we can drive home after the race. And it’s only $55.

Change of plan: We’re running Long Island. $50 and it’s 40 mins from our house. No hotel, no long drives…and it’s flat!

As for the fall, I’m already forgetting my past agonies and considering a full marathon again. Specifically, the Richmond, VA marathon. It’s well-established and large enough that I could easily find people to run with, but not so huge as to be overwhelming. We could also combine it with a trip to see a friend of Jonathan’s who lives in Maryland. My idea is to use the Westchester Half in October as a tune-up race or Mpace training run, and then do the full in VA five weeks later.

The other possibility is making the Westchester Half my goal race for the fall, then plan to run the New York Marathon as a fun run a month later. But I don’t know that I’d be satisfied with doing that. The sheer size of the NY race and the logistics of just getting to the start line have always been daunting. I’m not sure whether going in with the attitude that I’ll run it for the scenery and experience would help make those things more tolerable or have the opposite effect, making the venture seem like a complete waste of time and effort. I’m leaning against the idea, but I’ve got months to decide.

I’m surprised that I’m thinking about a full race again this soon. The last two races, and a few good workouts, are having their intended effect, I suppose. That being to renew my confidence that I’m not necessarily doomed to a future of hideous marathon implosions. Still, it’s weird to be hearing the siren call of the marathon already.